How To Steam Curtains – Step Away From the Iron

My sweet grandmother loved to keep house. That’s something I clearly inherited from her. It seemed if she even passed through a room it was sparkling by the time she left it.

One thing I remember is her ironing curtains for hours.

These days with most of us working full-time jobs, raising kids, and keeping up with commitments, spending hours on housekeeping is just stressful. So when I find a shortcut, I feel inspired to share it here.

While I do like keeping house, I most definitely do not enjoy ironing. If I need one shirt ironed for that day, I will set up the iron but for bigger items, like curtains, I will choose the steamer every time.

Wash Curtains First

It works just as well, takes less time and is an easier process in my opinion.

I always wash my curtains first if they’re new. Often times they’ll shrink so you want to account for that when buying them. Buy them a little longer than needed if they’re cotton so they don’t end up shrinking and being too short.

After washing, they always seem to come out completely wrinkled. I hang them up wrinkled and then get out my steamer.

Set Up Your Steamer

This year I got a new steamer, the Wagner 915e Power Steamer. It works the same as my old one but has a more compact design that I like better. It takes up less storage space.

Isn’t it cute?

It also has a built-in storage compartment for the attachments right on the unit. Anything that saves space is a win in my book.

I used the straight attachment to connect the squeegee tool. The squeegee is actually two tools in one.

You can remove the rubber lip to use as a fabric steamer. Just place the small microfiber bonnet over that.

I always use distilled water in my steamer. It’s better for the machine and sometimes tap water can have minerals in it that can actually stain fabric. I learned that the hard way, see removing water stains from upholstery here. Forty ounces of water will give you approximately 40 minutes of cleaning time.

How To Steam Curtains

Once the orange indicator light goes off you are ready to steam. Keep an eye on that during steaming, if the orange light comes back on, you may have to stop for a minute or two to allow the pressure to build back up.

I start from the top and work my way down. When you’re applying the steam, it’s important to hold the curtains taut, this is why I hang them up first. I go over each section several times.

Another reason I prefer steaming the wrinkles out is you get instant gratification. You can see the difference as you go from section to section. You don’t get that view when it’s draped over an ironing board and I tend to miss spots when I do it that way.

Look at the difference here on the side hem.

Another bonus to using the steamer is that afterward, everything just feels cleaner. While I had it set up, I also steam cleaned our carpet and the armchairs.

Even Nelson approves.

Removing wrinkles from curtains isn’t that bad of a task, it’s all about the right tool for the job. My grandmother didn’t have a steam cleaner but I bet she would’ve loved it. 🙂

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This post, how to steam curtains, was in partnership with Wagner Spray Tech, all opinions are my own. See my full disclosure for more information.